Fiscal Deficit At 0.75% Of GDP In April, Says Department Of Expenditure

New Delhi: Fiscal deficit for the month of April was at Rs 1,57,048 crore which is 22 per cent of the budgeted estimate for the year 2019-20, slightly lower than what it was in the same period a year ago and as a percentage to the GDP, the fiscal deficit is at 0.75 per cent, Department of Expenditure (DoE) figures showed.

These are the fiscal situation of the Central government as seen from the accounts for April 2019 of the Controller General of Accounts (CGA). For 2019-20, the fiscal deficit has been set at 3.4 per cent of the GDP in the interim Budget.

Fiscal deficit is Rs 1,57,048 crore -- 22 per cent of budget estimate (BE) (corresponding period for previous year - COPPY 24 per cent). The receipts are sufficient to cover only 38 per cent of expenditure. As a percentage to GDP, fiscal deficit is 0.75 per cent and revenue deficit is 0.61 per cent, the figures of Review of Accounts of April of the CGA stated.

For April, the total expenditure of the government was Rs 2,54,679 crore or 9 per cent of BE (COPPY 9 per cent), comprising revenue expenditure of Rs 2,24,091 crore -- 9 per cent of BE (COPPY 8 per cent) and capital expenditure of Rs 30,588 crore -- 9 per cent of BE (COPPY 16 per cent).

Total receipts were Rs 97,631 crore --5 per cent of the BE (COPPY 4 per cent). Gross tax was Rs 1,21,190 crore -- 5 per cent of the BE (COPPY 5 per cent). The net tax revenue to the Centre was of the order of Rs 71,637 crore -- 4 per cent of BE after deducting devolution to states (Rs 49,544 crore) and collections under National Calamity Contingent Duty (NCCD) to be transferred to National Disaster Relief Fund (NDRF) (Rs 9 crore).

During the month of May, the plan releases for various schemes to the tune of Rs 2,012.70 crore were made to the states.

A sum of Rs 49,543.62 crore was devolved to states as their share in Central Taxes and Duties. In addition, releases of the order of Rs 3,850.57 crore were made to the states in May, as recommended by the 14th Finance Commission. NDRF allocation was Rs 788.75 crore and Post Devolution Revenue Deficit (PDRD) was Rs 2,850.57 crore.